The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

            As if. As if she even felt like dating again. And how dare he tease her, like they were friends or something. She tried sounding lighter still when she said, “Of course I am. I need a vacation, Jack.”

            “Not as much as I need that World Series ball. Want to get Taco Hut afterward?”

            Are you freaking kidding me? She powered down her computer and said, “Sounds good, but I think this date might be a good one, where tacos won’t be necessary.”

            “Is that right?” His voice was deep.

            She swallowed. “Yes.”

            The silence felt loud and slow-moving, and she opened her mouth to say something, anything, when he said, “I guess we’ll play it by ear, then.”

            “I guess so.”

            “Where’s the date? Charlie’s?”

            “Yes, but—”

            “See you tomorrow, Hal,” he interrupted, and then he was gone.

            She hung up the phone and cursed loudly since her office door was closed. Dammit dammit dammit! Had she lost her mind? She’d agreed to meet Alex to talk, but it wasn’t a date, and she definitely didn’t want to see Jack.

            Shit.

            She should’ve just told him no, but her brain had shorted out the minute she’d heard his voice.





Jack


            “Oh, my God,” Olivia screamed, staring at him like he’d sprouted a second head. “So you haven’t talked to her since that night?”

            “Shut the fuck up, Liv,” he muttered, flipping off his sister as she freaked the hell out over his ridiculous situation. He looked at Colin and said, “How do you not bang your head on the wall every damn day for having to deal with her?”

            Colin grinned and looked at Olivia. “I find better ways to channel my aggression.”

            “I am going to puke.” Jack picked up the bottle of Dos Equis and said, “For real. That’s disgusting.”

            Colin and Olivia laughed, and as much as it pained him to admit it, they really were a great couple. Somehow their differences made them perfect for each other.

            Fuckers.

            “So you’re in love with Hallie.”

            “No.” He groaned and said, “I mean, kind of. Yes. Yes, I am.”

            Livvie said, “But she only wants to be friends.”

            “Maybe not even that.”

            “Even though you slept together while pretending to be a couple.”

            “I’m sorry—are you going to continue synopsizing my situation? Because it’s really fucking annoying.”

            “Sorry,” she said, laughing. “I’m just trying to figure it all out.”

            “If you ask me,” Colin said, “this is all about the blond clown.”

            “What?” Olivia asked.

            “What?” Jack repeated, shocked because he hadn’t even told them about the post-sex conversation. He’d casually mentioned they’d seen him at the airport—that was all.

            “Everything was great until she saw the other dude at the airport.” Colin raised his whiskey to his mouth and said, “She obviously either has feelings for him or is trying to figure out if she does.”

            That made Jack want to punch something. He’d started to text Hallie about a hundred times since they’d last been together, but every single time he stopped himself, because shit, what if she was already official with Alex?

            He didn’t know if she wanted him at all, but something inside him needed to give it one last shot.

            Olivia said, “No, don’t listen to him, Jack. I think she doesn’t know what to do with her feelings for you.”

            “You guys are no help whatsoever.” He’d stopped by their place solely because he didn’t want to go home and be alone, but he realized as he sat there that he didn’t feel any better when he was with people, either. “I’m going home.”